Friday, March 31, 2017

It's been an interesting few months for Joss Whedon. When he hasn't been showing some double standards in relation to his feminism on social media (love the guy but his Twitter can be ghastly at times), there's also been the celebration of 20 years of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and now it seems like he's swapping one cinematic universe for another.

Two years after his last contribution to the MCU, the divisive Age of Ultron which saw Whedon receiving a barrage of abuse from fans who hated his depiction of Black Widow in that movie, it seems now Joss is about to throw in his lot with the current DCEU franchise as reports have emerged yesterday that he will write, direct and produce a solo Batgirl movie. The movie according to sources will take inspiration from the New 52 run of the character, following the events of her recovery from being paralysed by the Joker in The Killing Joke.

Needless to say, the reception so far has been something of a mixed bag with some MCU fans scathing over the idea of Whedon in charge of another female superhero while others have fairly expressed disappointment that a female writer/director wasn't chosen for the project similar to how Wonder Woman has a female director with Patty Jenkins and the upcoming Gotham City Sirens has a female writer with Geneva Robertson-Dworet. I have to admit, I can understand the reservations but I'd also like to give Whedon a fair chance before writing off his vision with this potential project.

As for Batgirl/Barbara Gordon herself, the version we heavily associate with the character has been around since 1967, popularised in the comics and by actress Yvonne Craig in Batman '66 with Alicia Silverstone playing a version of the character called Barbara Wilson in 1997's Batman & Robin while 2002 had Dinah Meyer play mostly the Oracle version of the character (and Batgirl in flashbacks) in short lived series, Birds of Prey. The character has also appeared in various animated shows and movies, including 2016's rather polarising version of The Killing Joke, in which elements will no doubt surface in Whedon's upcoming project as well as possibly Gotham City Sirens should the character appear in that movie before Joss can write for her.

And because everyone else is doing it, here's a short list of potential actresses that could be in the running for Batgirl herself ....

1: Alexandria Breckenridge

People will recognise her from appearances in both True Blood and American Horror Story over the last couple of years but Alexandria also previously popped up in Buffy's final season as a character named Kit. It wouldn't be the first time Whedon has worked someone he's previously worked with in the past.

2: Anna Kendrick

Best known for Pitch Perfect and Into The Woods, Kendrick has expressed her interest in working in both the Marvel and DC movie universes in recent times, including a fun little interview with Ben Affleck where she asked to be Robin. Perhaps Batgirl could be the perfect role for the affable actress?

3: Emma Stone

Okay we've already seen her as Gwen Stacey in the Andrew Garfield Spiderman movies in recent times and there are fans who also would be happy to have her as Poison Ivy for Gotham City Sirens but I honestly think the La La Land actress would be a similarly great fit for Batgirl as well and going by some thoughts online, I'm far from a minority there.

4: Jena Malone

I know she's already appeared in the DCEU universe but remember, her scene from Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice was also cut and that she was in a blonde wig at the time during her brief scene with Lois Lane? Also given that there were rumors for the longest time that Malone was meant to be playing Barbara Gordon in that movie, maybe now they can come true.

5: Lindsay Morgan

Best known for her role on The 100 at the moment, the actress has become a sudden contender for the part due to her cryptically tweeting that she's got an exciting project on the horizon. Could she be about to take on one of the best female superhero roles or is it something completely different altogether? I have to admit she's an interesting casting choice if the role is actually hers.

Thursday, March 30, 2017

Eobard (to everyone): "You will walk this world knowing that something isn't quite right. That for all your trying you only made things worse."

You mean like how Barry does from time to time or even Oliver without the access to time travel and dimension hopping? As baddie speeches went though, Eobard was somewhat onto something as his victory was cemented with the spear's destruction at the end of this episode but not after a Legend was taking out by a Doom member first.

Poor Amaya. Between her and Nate, she's the one who actually deserves to go into the next season. Aside from the fact that she's the more interesting character of the two, there's also the fact that we need another consistent female character on the show besides Sara and arguably Gideon. Of course before being frozen and shattered to pieces by a wrathful Snart, Amaya was also getting through to Mick as well and came close to saving everyone's arses in this episode.

The reality that Eobard created saw some mixed results for everyone. Leonard were allowed to rob places with gleeful abandon while Damien had heroes bumped off and kept Sara and Amaya as his sexy assassins for hire along with Malcolm enjoying having his family around again. Those hoping for a Thea or Tommy cameo will be disappointed though.

As for Eobard himself, well he was the smartest guy in the universe, insanely wealthy, running Star Labs and also had Jax and Stein at his beck and call (with the former being rather monstrous to the latter) and he was plotting to destroy the Spear in order to seal his new order (along with some other changes), only for his own team as well as the Legends trying to stop him at every turn.

With Mick being responsible for the blunder of this new world, it felt right that it was also him that went about bringing the gang together, which included Ray as the janitor and a Nate with a godawful haircut living in his mother's basement. This also meant getting a few punches and Sara not trusting him but he did try his best in this one, choosing the Legends over Leonard, which he never would've done in the first season.

Of course everything went wrong with only Stein's memories being stuck, Amaya being killed by Snart and of course Eobard actually destroying the Spear, so the gang remembered that Rip would be needed to fix everything. Speaking of Rip, he was in a bit of a drunken funk until the last minute where Gideon kicked him back into action and we discovered the Waverider was a little smaller than last time we've seen it.

- Felicity appeared as a goth superhero for two minutes before being killed off. The Olicity fans did not like that one bit.
- I swear one of Rip's cakes was an intentional Doctor Who nod. Anyone else visibly cringe when it was revealed what Malcolm did to Nyssa as well in this reality?
- I think they could've had a few more cameo appearances in this episode.
- Chronology: More or less set in a parallel 2017 where Trump is still president (c'mon, Eobard, really man?). We're back in 1916 next week though.

Doomworld was certainly bleak alright and while Eobard managed to get the last laugh for now, it'll be interesting to see how he's finally taken out in next week's finale and what the set up for next season will be.

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

For those of you waiting for the second season of Finding Prince Charming, it seems that both Logo and E! have got you covered in terms of gay themed reality TV shows for the next few months.

Logo are ahead of the game here. Following the first season of Finding Prince Charming, their latest stab at gay reality TV centres on Fire Island. The show will focus on six guys - Khasan, Jorge, Brandon, Cheyenne, Justin and Patrick who enter a Fire Island house to entertain folks during the summer. The trailer shows a lot of fun, pecs on display, hook ups, fights and so on. The series is produced by Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos.

Elsewhere E! are also jumping in with their own LGBT themed reality show, What Happens At The Abbey, focusing on the staffers of LA's most infamous gay bar and going by the trailer, you can expect the usual hijinks here with nearly everyone (gay, lesbian, bisexual and even straight) copping off with each other. There's even a gay man and a lesbian having a baby together.

Looking at the trailers for both shows, neither of them are what you'd say are positive representations for the LGBT community but if you love unapologetic trashy reality TV, then both are likely to appeal to you.

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Joan: "This is just like 1937 again."
Mamacita: "When Hitler took over Austria?"
Joan: "No, when they labelled me box office poison."

And we're out of the filming process for Whatever Happened To Baby Jane and into the awards and public release side of things. This movie was supposed to be the ticket into reviving both Bette and Joan's respective careers but as this episode demonstrated, that wasn't quite the reality here.

In fact, we saw both Bette and Joan struggle here. Joan started the episode by firing her agents, who were making no effort to secure any lucrative work, rejected a role from an inexperienced would be female director and lost her shit when she didn't get the Oscar nomination that she was setting herself up for getting.

I actually found myself not greatly feeling bad for Joan in this one. While I don't blame her for sacking her agents, I think she cut her nose off to spite her face by rejecting Pauline's offer, even if she raised points about Hollywood's antagonism towards ambitious women. To be honest, the more this miniseries continues, the more I find myself on Team Bette to be honest.

Bette in question got herself a cute little agent at the start of the episode and even put an ad in the paper for herself to try and secure more work. She even an old idea to Aldrich, which he rejected but at the same we saw her doing a television job and some variety gigs along with more publicity work. Even Bette wasn't always the easiest of people to get along with, I definitely admired her determination and Sarandon has been getting better in the role too.

However while Bette and Joan had their moments, neither of them were actually the highlight of the episodes. Nope, instead the honour goes to both Aldrich's assistant, Pauline and Mamacita, both of whom got some brilliant moments in this episode. I loved the pairing of the two and I loved their scene in the cafe where they were both discussing their lots in life and wanting more.

As for Aldrich, he had his moments in this one. I hated that he snapped at Pauline but I did enjoy his scenes with Bette and Jack (Stanley Tucci really throwing in a good performance for a truly detestable character) while also having to deal with Sinatra's temperament as well during production of his Western movie. Not to mention there seemed to be some foreshadowing with his wife's comments too.

- Bette's Baby Jane song was hysterical along with her giving dolls to the audience. She also guest starred in Perry Mason with a dodgy hairdo/wig thing.
- Pauline's script was The Black Slipper. I would've so watched that movie had it been made.
- Anyone else feel bad for Victor Buono and that poor assistant when Sinatra was having a strop on set?
- Chronology: A couple of weeks since filming for Whatever Happened To Baby Jane.

More, Or Less certainly delivered more great stuff than less of it. While Bette and Joan are still the focus of things, it was nice to see the likes of Aldrich, Pauline and Mamacita come more into the spotlight and again, I enjoyed seeing both Olivia De Havilland and Joan Blondell's comments again on both Crawford and Davis.

Oh, the 1990's. How I love thee. I was a kid back then and there have been certain things from that period that I've now learned to appreciate a lot more than before and things I've been looking back with joy as well.

Power Rangers was one of those shows back then I was pretty much into but only the first three or four seasons (and the 1995 movie) and like certain things, it was also something I drifted away from. So while the franchise has had multiple spin-offs (and still counting), a reboot of the original team has now become the focus of this movie.

I'm wary of reboot, but I'm hardly unique in that respect but after watching this two hour affair, the one thing I came out with was that if you're going to modernise a franchise like Power Rangers, this is exactly how you do it. No, this movie really is that good.

To sum up the main players very simply, you have former football stud, Jason Lee Scott/Red Ranger (Dacre Montgomery), cheerleader turned social pariah, Kimberly Hart/Pink Ranger (Naomi Scott), gadget making Billy Cranston/Blue Ranger (RJ Cyler), the new kid for three years,Trini Kwan/Yellow Ranger (Becky G) and the somewhat reckless Zack Taylor/Black Ranger (Ludi Lin) as the five meet up through a series of events, find some colourful coins and gain superpowers and a whole new mission along the way of getting to know each other.

First of all though, the characters. It's without a doubt the movie gets effortlessly right as each of the Rangers comes across as a real person and the friendships forged between the pair are organic and grow beautifully within the movie itself. The themes of autism, sexuality, revenge porn, ruining your future and being a young carer are also explored with great depth that enhances the respective characters without ever patronising the audiences.

The argument that audiences can't deal with diversity in a mainstream superhero gets blown away here as this movie absolutely proves that they can. There isn't a single Ranger that doesn't feel like a real person and it's hard to pick a favourite because they're all so good to watch. Seriously, every single one of them steps up to the plate in terms of character and performance. There's not a duff performance in sight.

Of course being Rangers isn't an easy feat. It actually takes until the final twenty minutes of the movie and a tragic moment (that's also reversed) in order for the gang to be able to morph into their armour and while the various training montages are excellently done, the new team up of Zordon (Bryan Cranston) and Alpha 5 (Bill Hader) take a little getting used to but again they work pretty well with getting the gang to accept their new destiny and prepare for the big battle.

As for the villain of the piece, I loved Rita Repulsa in the original series and Elizabeth Banks certainly brings a lot to the piece. The new backstory with Rita being the original Green Ranger whom Zordon defeated is a nice twist and while I think the character could've done with more screentime, whenever Banks is on the screen, she's a delightfully OTT villain to watch, very much like Rita was in the original show itself.

Rita's general plan is fairly basic. First she eats up enough gold and people to restore herself and then she uses both her putty creations and the giant Goldar in order to get the Zeo Crystal and destroy all life. The sequence where Rita and her army rampage Angel Grove in order to get to the crystal is pretty stunning as the Rangers mobilise together as a team and we get to see them in their Zords as they battle to save the day.

Of course Rita is defeated but not completely taken out of the ongoing story. With five sequels alleged planned for this rebooted franchise, I imagine she'll be back to cause more mayhem and with the mid credit sequence setting up something else, I really cannot wait to see more of this new generation of Rangers on the big screen.

- Both Amy Jo Johnson (original Kimberly) and Jason David Frank (original Tommy Oliver) made a cameo appearance towards the end of the movie.
- Speaking of Tommy, the mid credit scene set up the character to appear in the second movie. There's a chance though the character might be gender swapped.
- Marvel fans will like the Iron Man and Spiderman references the movie made.
- There was a kiss between Jason and Kimberly that was cut from the movie. There's an implied attraction between the two nonetheless though.
- There's references to some of the more recent spin-off shows in the movie if you can spot them.
- Standout music: You've got a modern version of the classic theme by Brian Tyler, also Fitz and the Tantrum's Handclap and Bootstrap's version of Stand By Me.

Like I said earlier in the review, this is exactly how you reboot an old franchise. Power Rangers felt distinctively like the series it originated from but with a very contemporary twists. The Rangers have been excellently cast, are believable as characters and allies and develop brilliantly over the two hours they're given onscreen. While Rita could've had a little more screen time, she's an excellently updated antagonist with a new backstory that can be richly explored once another newcomer makes their presence known in a future release. Overall, a great movie for both kids and adults alike.

Friday, March 24, 2017

It's all about the DNA or at least that's what Lucious and Cookie both made it about this week. Cookie was always going to get her own back after Lucious dug up about Angelo's previous manslaughter incident and Cookie certainly went for the jugular when she publicly outed Leah being alive during the Inferno launch.

Naturally this was going to lead to some form of blow back for her as Lucious made it his mission to sabotage Angelo's bid for Mayor and give him even more bad publicity but hiring Anika as head of A&R really was the thing to push Cookie over the edge and she revolted in the most explosive way going.

Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard owned the last five minutes of the episode as Cookie went on one hell of a rampage, smashing everything inside Empire within swinging distance of a bat (watch out, Negan, you have some competition there). Even Lucious himself wasn't spared getting a whack from the bat and the last moment where it looked like Cookie's rage was going to manifest into something else was averted during the final moment.

I don't believe Cookie will ever be done with Lucious, not while she's still at Empire and playing her role in his and their sons careers and while the "17 years" spiel has been repeated ad infinite with her, it certainly had more potency in this episode than I expected it to do. As for Lucious, even he seemed genuinely shook at her lashing out this time.

Of course when Cookie and Lucious weren't going at each other, there was also the issue of Jamal's recovery. While I definitely think he left rehab way too early, I did enjoy his recording scenes with new friend, Tory Ash (Rumer Willis). I just hope though that he doesn't slip back now that he's out of rehab though.

As for the rest of the episode, I liked the Thirsty and Becky team up (including Leah) which took into two plot points - one undermining Tariq's crusade against Lucious by getting Bam Bam on side again and the other which also Xavier finally getting the sack. Unfortunately for Becky, Anika got the job she wanted. Still, at least one pointless character is gone with.

- I had to laugh at Nessa and Tiana's on stage scrap but mainly for Shyne's reaction though. Shyne also seems sceptical of Andre's scheme to kill Lucious though.
- Rumer's mother, Demi Moore will be appearing later in the season along with Eva Longoria and Nia Long. The show is upping the female guest stars for the second half of this season.
- Standout music: Inferno by Remy Ma/Sticky Fingaz, Nessa/Hakeem/Tiana's Get Me Right and Jamal/Tory's Simple Song.
- Chronology: Not long since the previous episode. Doesn't seem like a huge amount of time has passed for everyone.

Now that was an episode to come back with. I had been distracted with enough shows not to miss this one's absence too much but with Sound And Fury, the series came back swinging. Brilliant songs, some legitimate fireworks, one of the best five minutes the series has produced and a promise of more craziness to come. Yippee.

Thursday, March 23, 2017

After watching this episode, so do I. It's like you know watching that everything was about to go spectacularly wrong but you couldn't stop it nonetheless. Maybe if the gang had given Mick a bit more credit or had gone with Amaya's plan instead, things might not have turned out to be the disaster area they did.

Except none of those things happened and instead not only do we have a pre-Waverider version of Snart alive and kicking with the Legion of Doom but Mick's also joined them and the lot of them ended the episode with the Spear of Destiny in their possession and history about to get one hell of a makeover given the trailer for next week's episode.

I know the gang haven't always taken Mick seriously or been wary of his past but it seemed like this episode really overemphasised that point just for him to switch teams at the very end. Even Snart's needling of his worth to the crew seemed like the sort of thing that he would've otherwise been able to have fought off.

That said, much as I didn't enjoy seeing Mick throw in his lot with the bad guys (especially soon after Rip being brainwashed by them), I did enjoy all of his scenes with Snart again. I've missed Snart as a character and while I'm not getting my hopes up yet that we'll have him back as a regular next season, just seeing him again was a delight to have.

As for the gang, I knew the moment that things were starting off well for them (them stealing from Thawne at the Vanishing Point) that things would sooner go wrong for them. The temptation with the history changing Spear to one side, the gang also had to pull in the services of JRR Tolkien (Jack Turner) to locate Sir Gawain's body in order to find the blood of Christ.

I did like the use of Tolkien a little more than George Lucas earlier in the season but I think it was down to the guest actor being somewhat stronger and fitting in more naturally to the WW1 background along with the references to his work being a little more subtle in their references too. Oh and some good chemistry between him and Rip too.

- I liked that Amaya talked to Sara about looking into her future. I also liked the mentions of Laurel and Mari in this one too.
- Rip likes himself some jellybeans and Jax was able to transmute some for him at the start of the episode.
- Anyone want to guess which famous writer/director we'll get next season? I wouldn't be surprised if it's George RR Martin next.
- Chronology: 1918 France for nearly all of the episode.

Fellowship Of The Spear had some good moments but it was a bit of a frustrating episode to watch as well. I knew the League had to get that spear but it felt a bit contrived how the gang somewhat alienated themselves from Mick but with two episodes to go, there's still time to save the universe from whatever the League have intended for it.

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

It was eight months ago that a musical crossover episode with both Supergirl and The Flash was announced. The last two night saw the CW deliver on that promise and then some.

First of all on Supergirl and with an episode titled, Star Crossed, it was mostly a standalone episode. After months of the blindingly obvious simmering in the background, Kara (Melissa Benoist) finally found out that her boyfriend, Mon El (Chris Wood) was actually the Prince of Daxam when the latter was reunited with his parents, Rhea (Teri Hatcher) and Lan Gar (Kevin Sorbo) and needless to say, it put something of a spanner in the works. Even with Mon El somewhat evolving a little from the hedonistic party boy, Kara found this one lie to big to get past and subsequently ended things with Mon El. However by the episode's end, the Music Meister (Darren Criss) had managed to escape the DEO, put Kara under his spell and jumped dimensions in order to catch up with the fastest man alive.

And then it all continued in The Flash with an episode titled, Duet. Music Meister didn't waste time putting Barry under the same spell as Kara and both super friends found themselves caught inside a musical reminiscent of West Side Story (along with shameless and delightful references to other well known ones) as a pair of singers working for an alternative version of Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) while being pulled in by alternative versions of Joe West (Jesse L. Martin) and Martin Stein (Victor Garber). Of course with this being a musical, there was a forbidden love story between Millie/Iris (Candice Patton) and Mon El/Tommy and a gang war as Barry and Kara worked together to save the day and belt out a few tunes in the mix. Oh and did I mention the alternative versions of Cisco (Carlos Valdes) and Winn (Jeremy Jordan) too? Both were on fine form here.

The songs themselves were a mixture of cover versions and originals. Seeing Kara belt out a sultry version of Moon River at the start, coupled with Barry's soulful Runnin' Home To You (penned by La La Land songwriters Benji Pasek and Justin Paul) certainly were high points of the episode but to be honest, I think every song struck a chord. The duet of Superfriends (written by the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend's Rachel Bloom) was unashamedly cheesy and I loved every second of it along with the fathers rendition of More I Cannot Wish You and the Meister himself trying to get our heroes to Put A Little Love In Your Heart which was also rather charming.

As for the Music Meister himself, Darren Criss definitely seemed to have blast in the role and seeing him, Melissa Benoist and Grant Gustin in various scenes together did give me flashbacks to their days on Glee. I did find it slightly odd that Meister's main purpose was mostly to help reunite Kara/Mon El and Barry/Iris but I do think in the context of the episode and it's not so subtle themes that it does work and was satisfying enough. I'm not sure if he's a character who should return though but thanks to him, we got some gorgeous musical numbers, a nice mixture of character team ups (the Cisco/Kid Flash/J'onn pairing was great) and a world where Joe West and Martin Stein are gangster husbands so for those reasons alone, I certainly wouldn't object to an encore to be honest.

As musical episodes go, it's not quite Once More With Feeling but it's definitely one of the more enjoyable ones and easily one of the best episodes The Flash has currently done this season. I do think though that maybe we could've had a few more characters in song (no Caitlin or HR numbers) but other than that, this was a delight to watch.

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

And that's a wrap. Not for the series mind because there's five episodes left to go but for Whatever Happened To Baby Jane as Bette and Joan up their game in more ways than one for their final days of shooting their only movie together.

Before all that though, there's a moment in the episode where both women go out for drinks and reveal some of their childhood memories to each other. It's a striking moment in an episode full of them as both women get a further understanding of the other. I have to admit seeing the way Joan talked about her stepfather particularly shocked me even though I already some of the details. I think Bette's reaction summed it up pretty well.

Along with the drinks revelation, the other thing I liked about this episode was the exploration on the women's mothering skills. Joan found herself signing a card for Christina while also keep a firm grip on her twins and despairing when she was denied the right to adopt another kid. The dynamic between her and maid Mamacita was also given some nice focus on too.

Then there was Bette. She tried her hardest to shield BD from some of the criticisms of the latter's performance as the neighbour on the movie while also opening up to Victor Buono about her other child, Margo. whom we later saw Bette trying to reconnect with during a phone call. Another surprise moment was the maternal streak she showed towards Buono, which also included her getting him out of a very sticky situation with the police.

However back to the rivalry stuff and once again, any moment of civility between Crawford and Davis got put to one side as the two upped their game in antagonising one another, with the likes of Hedda shit stirring on the side. The look both women gave each other though as production wrapped up on the film was rather telling.

- Along with the sexual abuse Joan suffered at the hands of her stepfather, this episode only made the smallest allusions to her own relationship with adopted daughter, Christina.
- Loved seeing Bette calling Hedda out on her role in the feud that she was having with Joan in this episode.
- No Joan Blondell or Oliva de Havilland this week. Hopefully they're back soon though.
- Chronology: During the final few days of filming Whatever Happened To Baby Jane.

Easily the best episode of the bunch so far. Mommie Dearest might not have given us the biggest details on that particular aspect of Crawford's life but the episode succeeded in covering both Joan and Bette's style of parenting as well as showing us that both women really could've been friends had things been different for them too.

Saturday, March 18, 2017

Yup, it's been an interesting few episodes of some of the shows I've watched over the last few weeks.

Arrow: I have to say the last few episodes have been rather enjoyable. I quite liked the bad girl trinity of China White, Cupid and Lady Cop for one episode while at the same time, the show actually revealing to us that Adrian is Prometheus after all and that Talia is backing him to make Oliver suffer. Predictable as the outcome might have been, it does make sense and it's played out rather well with some nice scene chewing menace from Josh Segarra as Chase too. On the other hand, the Helix storyline remains dull as ditch water and there's too much Rene and not enough Thea for the show's good.

Once Upon A Time: It's been over three months since the mid-season finale but the show is now back and the first two episodes were decent enough. Revelation wise, we now know that Hook killed David's father and Rumple/Belle are somewhat conflicted about their grown up son wanting to kill Emma while Regina has figured out that she might not love the Robin she yanked away from another world. Aside from one of those bits, nothing too earth shattering so far but there are ten episodes left to go and it's been nice to see a little more of August too.

Santa Clarita Diet: I've blitzed through more episodes of this delightfully offbeat show and with two more to go, I've certainly been enjoying it so far. Sheila and Joel working together to maintain the former's diet and learn more about her status has been fun to watch along with Loki also resurfacing as one of the undead. Another plus side was the show bumping off Dan, who had just become too annoying to be kept on for much longer as well as the teenagers on the series getting some decent B-plot material to work with.

Supergirl: A bit of a lull in the show with an arc centred on a returned Jeremiah working for Cadmus. I have to admit, it's not been the strongest arc and much as I love Alex, the show might want to dial the angst factor with her a tiny bit. As for Kara and Mon El's relationship, it's not super compelling but not objectionable either though the Winn/Lyra hook up has been slightly more effective. The show though is struggling to give Jimmy anything meaningful to do and with Kara being fired by Snapper, I do wonder if CatCo is slowly being phased out of the show. On the other hand, Lena lights up the screen every time she appears and the show could do with more appearances from her to be honest.

The Flash: Also suffering a little bit of a lull has been this show. The Grodd two parter was excellent, if a little rushed in it's resolution to Grodd's general attack but the last two episodes have seen both Barry and Wally becoming increasingly reckless and giving the returning Savitar too many advantages.. I did like seeing a few familiar faces (Eddie, Ronnie, Snart, Jay etc) via the Speed Force episode but the way Barry/Iris have been written in the last few episodes hasn't been good. Thankfully though there's an upcoming musical episode to look forward to and not too long before Savitar can finally be taken out for good.

- Andrew J. West and Alison Fernandez will be appearing in the finale in mysterious roles for Once Upon A Time. Both characters will appear in the seventh season if the show is renewed.
- Ryan Murphy will be doing a series focusing on 80's LGBT and ball culture called Pose for FX, due to air in 2018. Does the guy ever sleep?
- Feud's second season will focus on Charles and Diana's estrangement.
- Alexander Siddig has been cast as Ras Al Ghul for the third season finale of Gotham.
- Game Of Thrones eighth and final season will be six episodes. Season 7 will air on HBO from July 16th.
- Riverdale has been renewed for a second season by the CW.
- The CW will also be air Black Lightning instead of FOX. Cress Williams will be playing the title role.
- MTV will rebooting Scream after it's six episode third season airs.
- Midnight Texas will now air during the summer for NBC.
- Jason Isaacs has joined Star Trek: Discovery in the captain's role.

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

And another bites the dust. With the exceptions of Amaya, Courtney and Obsidian, it seems like we're getting to the point where half the JSA members are being routinely bumped off and this week, it was the turn of Commander Steel or Henry himself.

But unlike Mid Nite who was given a brief reintroduction before being killed, this episode decided to spend the most amount of time with the character and I can't help but think - couldn't we have had him instead of Nate this season? I don't want to rag on Nate too but Henry is actually the better character if we had to have to have a Steel this season.

I did quite like Nate and Henry's scenes together and adding Hank as a kid into the mix towards the end of the episode gave things a nice little emotional sting. Henry's sacrifice to save the Waverider and others seemed telegraphed from a mile away but ultimately it worked, even if during Nate's family angst he opened a massive can of worms for Amaya and her own personal future. Nice going, Nate.

Of course, getting back to the main plot point itself. I liked the idea of Henry hiding his bit of the Spear of Destiny on the US flag on the moon and seeing the gang and Eobard going after it was great. I also liked the temporary truce we saw between Eobard and Ray in this one as well, especially as the former picked up on the latter's true motives for being the Atom while the latter realised what Thawne's true mission was all along. Their scenes on the Apollo 13 were a joy to watch.

This season has certainly shaped Eobard into a far compelling villain than he was on The Flash and while I've enjoyed him with his Legion of Doom, he's just as effective by himself as his scenes with Ray proved this week. I did like that Ray was able to outsmart him after Thawne predictably managed to make his escape though.

In other plot developments, the episode also nicely explored Rip seeking his place on the Waverider. It took him a while to get used to the gang following Sara's lead as captain and I loved the moment where Sara referred to him as a Legend. I'm sure the remaining episodes will reaffirm whatever place Rip has on the current team set up though.

- Jax got to use a British accent this week and Stein broke into song. The latter will be doing more of that next week.
- Amaya is now aware of her own future and Mari's existence thanks to Nate.
- Snart is back in next week's episode and so is Damien Darkh.
- Chronology: Mostly 1969 but also Manhattan 1965 when Rip originally dropped Henry off with his bit of the spear.

Moonshot was a lot of fun. Although Nate did annoy me in parts of the episode, the scenes with his grandfather and father were nicely done along with the Sara/Rip captain dynamic and Thawne forced into playing nice for a bit.

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Joan Blondell: "No matter how liberated. Women will what they always do when cornered: eat their own."

And as this episode proves, that also happens with said women also being pitted against one another too. Yes, the hatred that Bette and Joan might have been chemical but as we saw for a brief moment in this episode, they were also banding together as professionals with this movie as well. Then we had Jack Warner and Robert Aldrich dramatically change that.

Along with Hedda Hopper (great performance from Judy Davis, but Hedda is irritating), whatever little truce that Bette and Joan might have had came to a swift end this week. Aldrich had Hopper print a "quote" from Davis about Crawford's cleavage while Joan herself retaliated by going to a rival gossip rag and commenting on Bette being old enough to be her mother.

As horrible as it was to see both Warner and Aldrich (the former with glee, the latter with some reluctance) pit both Bette and Joan against one another, there was a joy seeing both Sarandon and Lange really going at it with this episode though. The dig at Pepsi being pure vodka being the icing on the cake along with Joan's manipulation of both Aldrich and Hedda at different points in the episode.

However two episodes in and I have to admit, it's Sarandon who's pulling me in a lot more. Okay the rehearsal scene during Bette's "Letter To Daddy" song wasn't her strongest performance but the rest of the episode, especially when given some home truths by BD and that last scene with Robert should certainly give Joan more venom in the next one.

Speaking of Joan though, I do think Lange is doing a good job in highlighting her insecurities well enough. We saw in the first episode how she was able to get Bette on side to help manipulate Robert into firing the young actress who would've played the neighbour's daughter and she definitely seemed stung when Aldrich didn't succumb to her advances either. The moment though where she decided to "recast" her husband however was pretty priceless.

Like last week (and I assume for a few more episodes), we saw some more filming for Whatever Happened To Baby Jane along with Joan completely ruining one of Bette's scenes with her outbursts as well. Whatever your stance is about who was the best performer for that movie, seeing the way both actresses try to get into their characters has been a strong point of this series so far.

- Bette's reaction to meeting her "love interest" Victor Buono (Dominic Burgess) was priceless. He's always going to be King Tut from Batman 66 to me though.
- Delving into Bette and Joan's past works we saw bits from Above Suspicion, The Little Foxes, Mildred Pierce and Beyond The Forest.- Joan Blondell and Olivia de Havilland certainly had similar and differing viewpoints on how women treat each other in the industry.
- Chronology: Not long from where the Pilot episode left off.

Not as strong as the opening episode but saying that, I do think The Other Woman kept things moving along nicely. I suppose watching this show is a good reminder than in some respects things haven't completely changed as Bette and Joan's rivalry was exploited by the studio and media alike.

Saturday, March 11, 2017

Yesterday saw the celebration of 20 years of former WB and UPN supernatural hit series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Over the past few days there have been various articles and posts all over social media about the show's enduring appeal and legacy (including ones from Sarah Michelle Gellar and Anthony Stewart Head), so a day later, I decide to join in as well.

What The Show Meant To Me: I discovered the show briefly around 1998 having watched an episode of it on Sky1 but it wasn't until 1999 when Irish channel TV3 started airing the series that I really got into it. Around the second half of Season 2, I went from enjoying the show casually to becoming fully obsessed with it and the finale of that particular season sealed it for me. This was my go to show and the one that I had to watch every Thursday (usually on TV3, later on Sky1 properly, though VHS releases also filled in some episode gaps). Like The X Files and Twin Peaks before it, there was something about this show that would go on to leave a lasting impression. Despite the concept sounding silly, this was a series that delivered in scares, laughs, romance, heartbreaks, shocking moments and beautiful characterisation with aplomb. Granted, like every great show out there, it wasn't immune from the odd stinker of an episode but the good for me always outweighed the bad and let's be honest, how many shows can pull off episodes The Wish, Hush, The Body, Once More With Feeling and Conversations With Dead People in the same manner that this show did for seven seasons? Not to mention the absolutely amazing finales (even if they all featured an apocalypse or two) as well. This wasn't some nice little show in the background. It was a series that made you pay attention in a big way and had a crossover appeal that not many seemingly teenage shows do. Of course, I discovered this show in my teens and as a result, it massively changed my outlook on television forever.

Heroes & Villains: This show not had plenty of them but more importantly, the richest tapesty of them too. Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) herself initially started off a vapid teenage girl in flashbacks before her destiny in LA saw her having to grow up and move to Sunnydale, which had it's own Hellmouth. It also had a variety of allies for Buffy though, including her watcher, Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), friends such as Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendon), Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan) and other allies/frenemies include Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter), Daniel 'Oz' Osbourne (Seth Green), Faith Lehane (Eliza Dushku), Anya Jenkins (Emma Caulfield), Tara McClay (Amber Benson), later introduced sister Dawn Summers (Michelle Tratchenberg) and Robin Wood (DB Woodside) to name a few. In the space of seven seasons, Buffy had three significant love interests with vampires such as Angel (David Boreanaz) and Spike (James Marsters) as well as Initiative soldier, Riley Finn (Marc Blucas). Xander had also dated both Cordelia and Anya, had a one night stand with Faith and a brief affair with Willow while the latter herself had also dated both Oz and Tara as well as potential slayer Kennedy (Iyari Limon) in the show's final season. Giles had also dated both Jenny Calender (Robia LaMorte) and Olivia Williams (Phina Oruche) as well as briefly hooking up with Buffy's own mother, Joyce (Kristine Sutherland). The villains in question were also a similarly colourful bunch. The first two seasons had vampires as the main antagonists with the likes of the Master (Mark Metcalf), Darla (Julie Benz), Drusilla (Juliet Landau), Spike and Angelus all providing problems for Buffy and the gang. However, later seasons would up the ante with the likes of the Mayor (Harry Groener), Faith, Adam (George Hertzberg), Glory (Clare Kramer), nerd trio Warren (Adam Busch), Jonathan (Danny Strong), Andrew (Tom Lenk) along with Dark Willow and as well as the First Evil and misogynistic priest Caleb (Nathan Fillion) creating even more problems for the gang. Some were more successful than others but along with the various minor vampires and guest monsters of the week (Sweet, the musical demon and the creepy voice stealing Gentlemen), the show knew how to deliver a great menace, including the odd human one such as the charismatic Ethan Rayne (Robin Sachs) to boot. Yup, this show did good.

It's Influence & Impact: While Joss Whedon was clearly influenced by shows such as The X Files, Twin Peaks and Xena: Warrior Princess, along with a vocal desire to subvert the horror trope of having the blonde girl getting killed by the monster, it's hard to deny the lasting impact the series has had within the land of television itself. With Buffy's influence, would we have had the likes of Alias, Orphan Black, The Vampire Diaries, True Blood and even shows like Smallville and the revived Doctor Who along with the current DC and Marvel TV shows can attribute some of their success to what Whedon accomplished with Buffy. The show might never have been a ratings juggernaut but it's influence in pop culture and post 2000's television is easy to spot. While Whedon himself has had mixed success outside the show, he definitely created something that has left an impact, one I feel that will still be felt for decades to come.

The Spin-Off: With Buffy's success, a spin-off seemed destined to be but as other genre shows that are not Star Trek related have shown us, they can be tricky beasts to pull off. However, Whedon and company had an ace in the hole as the rising popularity of reformed vampire, Angel (David Boreanaz) meant he was the perfect choice to go it alone in LA, setting up a detective agency and solving cases. Of course, he wasn't alone as the series soon paired him up with Cordelia, vision guy Doyle (Glenn Quinn) while subsequent seasons also added the likes of Wesley Wyndham Price (Alexis Denisof), Charles Gunn (J. August Richards), Lorne (Andy Hallett), Winifred 'Fred' Burkle (Amy Acker) and Angel's own son, Connor (Vincent Kartheiser), following a tryst with Darla back in the second season. In terms of spin-offs, Angel was easily one of the best ones we've had in the last few years and running between 1999 and 2004 (ending a year after it's parent show), it managed to be every bit as impact as Buffy while at the same time adding it's own unique flavour to proceedings.

Five Years Earlier: Of course before the series itself made it's March 10th 1997 debut on the WB as that mid-season replacement no-one anticipated for success, it was also a movie back in 1992 with Kristy Swanson as Buffy Summers and Luke Perry as slightly bad boy/love interest Oliver Pike. The movie also included the likes of Donald Sutherland as Watcher Merrick and Rutger Hauer as the main villain, Lothos. The movie would also be noteworthy for featuring the likes of Ben Affleck, Hilary Swank and David Arquette in minor roles. Unfortunately the movie's campy tone didn't exactly help to sell the movie and it was something of a flop, which makes the series success even more of a surprise. I have to admit to only seeing the movie properly a few years after the series ended, I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected it to. I can see why it didn't succeed upon it's original release but if you're a fan of the show who still hasn't seen this movie, do yourself a favour and rectify that as soon as possible.

Living On In Other Mediums: The series might have ended back in May 2003 with it's spin-off following suit a year later but both shows have also found new life through the medium of comics since 2007, courtesy of Dark Horse and IDW. I have to admit, I bailed on them after a while but their continued existence does highlight that the appetite for the show hasn't died down despite being off the air longer than it was ever on the air. At some point and because we're in a current era of everything getting rebooted, there's no doubt that Buffy herself will return to either the television or movie fold (most likely the former) probably sooner than later, it does beg the question - can lightning strike twice or is this one franchise best left in the past? Arguments can be made for both but despite some failed attempts in recent years to set up a movie franchise, I wouldn't rule out the series getting another lease of life in the immediate future.

So there it is. The show was a major turning point for me and I imagine a lot of other people too. I sat down late last night and watched Welcome To The Hellmouth and everything about the show that I fell in love with was there in those 45 minutes. To the next twenty years.

Every now and then, a TV show gives you an episode with things that you didn't know you particularly wanted as a viewer but after it ends, you actually want a bit more. This was one of those episodes.

With Rip being able to override Gideon's control and cause havoc on the ship, the gang really needed to band together and bring their former Captain back into their way of thinking. Cut to Mick coming up with the suggestion of entering Rip's mind to fix him. Cue Mick also assisting Stein with this process while Sara and Jax enter Rip's mind at the very risk of being trapped in there as well.

This is where the show somewhat lifts from The Doctor's Wife as Sara and Jax go down some creepy corridors and have to contend with evil versions of themselves before being seperated. For Sara, this means being locked in a cell with a more subdued and defeated Rip, who needs coaxing to free his mind from Eobard's control but for Jax, it's an opportunity for the show to actually show us a regular we haven't seen in humanoid form before.

I have been thinking for a while that the longer this series runs for, the more likely we'd have a scenario where Gideon would appear in human form. This episode presented us with that opportunity and did one better by having Amy Pemberton herself appear on screen. To say that Rip, Jax and Sara's interactions with Gideon were the highlight of the episode would be an understatement but it truly was.

Coming away from this episode a few things popped up in my head - one, that Rip and Gideon have the same kind of relationship that the Doctor and TARDIS have and two, that we should get an arc of sorts where we can see Gideon in human form again. Out of everyone, I think Gideon played one of the biggest roles in getting Rip back to his normal self.

Of course while the main part was Rip being brought back to the good side, we also had Nate, Ray and Amaya looking for more bits of the Spear of Destiny (and Nate's grandfather). This subplot had so many great moments, including callbacks to where Ray was at the start of the season, Nate and Amaya taking things a little further while Ray let the former in on about Amaya's future and Mari being a factor while Amaya herself got to make friends with a dinosaur. It's moments like this that highlight how delightfully offbeat the series can be.

- The episode with the stinger of Eobard targeting Nate's grandfather, the latter who was training to go into space, setting up next week's episode nicely.
- Points for Nate this week by mentioning that Sara was bisexual. Sara also found Gideon in her human form attractive.
- This episode had the best use of Amaya's powers so far. Unfortunuately going by Nate and Ray's discussion, I also felt the show might be setting up her departure. Can we keep Amaya and lose Nate instead?
- Chronology: Prehistoric times and the 1960s by the episode's end.

Land Of The Lost was trippy and a little owing of another time travelling show but while it brought about the end of the enjoyable Evil Rip arc, it is nice to have him back properly in the fold again. As for who gets to lead the Waverider between Rip and Sara, I say let both of them do it.

Monday, March 06, 2017

Olivia de Havilland: "Feuds are never about hate. Feuds are about pain."

It seems that in the last six years that Ryan Murphy has really found himself fond of the anthology route for his shows. American Horror Story has grown within it's success while The People V. OJ Simpson was a successful move for the American Crime Story series. Now, it's time for a good old Feud, featuring two former Hollywood icons and that one movie they made back in 1962.

Reunited with Murphy, Jessica Lange steps back into the television as ageing Joan Crawford while Susan Sarandon also steps into the Murphy television fold as Bette Davis and while neither actress attempts to take on the accents of the infamous women they're portraying, there is a lot of fun to be had within the first episode of this eight part series.

Largely told from the points of views of two other actresses - Olivia de Havilland (Catherine Zeta Jones) and Joan Blondell (Kathy Bates), the rivalry between Joan and Bette is pretty legendary that if it weren't for their lagging careers, they probably would've never agreed to have done cult favourite, Whatever Happened To Baby Jane with Robert Aldrich (Alfred Molina) agreeing to directing the movie with the warring pair.

A large part of the feud that's implied with the pairing seemed to be how the other was perceived by Hollywood. Davis was seen as something of a character actor while Crawford had to work a little harder for the same recognition. Within the first few minutes of the movie, Crawford is fairly scornful of the sex symbol status afforded to Marilyn Monroe while she struggled to find a compelling role for an older woman before pitching Baby Jane to Aldrich.

Having Joan also be the one to get Bette interested in the role (the latter finding her career stagnating in a Broadway production) was an interesting move along with the women doing the initial publicity and contract signings for their respective roles before actually working on the movie. I also got a bit of a laugh seeing the pair mutually antagonise one another on the set of the movie as well, though Bette clearly is better at getting one over on her co-star.

One of the best scenes of the first episode was the little dinner scene at the end. Seeing Hedda Hopper (Judy Davis) trying to goad the pair into trashing each other and having Bette and Joan refuse to take the bait was a nice way of showing the somewhat complex side of the pair's rivalry. Even if the pair loathed each other as individuals, they did seem to have some respect for each other as professionals.

- The title sequence appropriately enough takes in plenty of moments from Whatever Happened To Baby Jane. I love that Bette wore one of Joan's old wigs for the movie.
- Other characters who got a little screen time in this episode included Stanley Tucci's horribly sexist executive Jack L. Warner as well as Bette's daughter, B.D Hyman (Kiernan Shipka) and Joan's maid Mamacita (Jackie Hoffman).
- We saw some moments from All About Eve (Davis) and Autumn Leaves (Crawford) at different points in the episode. Not to mention the fact that Joan had connections to Pepsi Cola.
- Chronology: 1962, considering the movie the ladies were filming and the time it took to make said film.

A strong pilot episode for what clearly is being set up as a campy if tragic miniseries. Both Jessica Lange and Susan Surandon seem to have gotten the basic ticks for the women they're portraying (if not the voices, but I can gloss over that) and they're backed up by a great supporting cast too. Whether this premise is sustainable for eight episodes will be fun to find out too as so far, it's off to a delightfully bitchy start.

Saturday, March 04, 2017

Last week it was announced that the director of the recent Lego Batman movie, Chris McKay along with screenwriter Bill Dubuque (The Accountant) intend to do a Nightwing movie for the current DCEU universe.

While this is one of many movies that has been announced and may be months off from actual casting and development, the anticipation for who may play the role of former acrobat/Robin/hero in his own right, Nightwing aka Dick Grayson has gone into overdrive. Without further ado though, here are some of my suggestions based on talent, age, possible availability, physicality and current media profile.

And if it turns out any of these guys are in the running (and it's not Armie Hammer as rumoured in some parts), I will be genuinely surprised.

1: Finn Wittrock

Best known: Roles in American Horror Story, Torchwood and Master Of Sex. Has recently appeared in La La Land too.2: Jack Falahee

Best Known: Primarily How To Get Away With Murder but also Mercy Street. I could see him bringing a lot of charm to the role.

3: John Boyega

Best Known: Playing Finn in the latest Star Wars trilogy. One of the most talented younger actors out there at the moment and seemed destined for a superhero movie franchise.

4: Kit Harrington

Best Known: The not so dead Jon Snow in Game Of Thrones. He's also appeared in the Spooks movie not so long ago as well.

5: Matt Bomer

Best Known: TV shows such as White Collar and American Horror Story. Matt's been one of those actors who has been fantasy cast as Nightwing for a while. Age wise, if they're going for an older version, he's a viable candidate.

6: Nico Tortorella

Best Known: Trevor in Scream 4 and Josh in Younger. He also hosts a podcast called Love Bomb that may become a television series and has a certain charisma about him.

7: Rami Malek

Best Known: Elliott from Mr Robot. He's emerging as a one to watch kind of actor due to his performance on that particular show and I've seen some fantasy cast him as well..

8: Riz Ahmed

Best Known: Recently in Star Wars: Rogue One as Bodhi Rook. He's also been in The Night Of and Girls recently. I definitely think he's a possible candidate for the role with his rising star and media presence.

9: Steven R McQueen

Best Known: Playing Jeremy in The Vampire Diaries and also has appeared in Chicago Fire. He's also expressed an interest in playing the role in the past.

10: Steven Yeun

Best Known: Glenn from The Walking Dead of course. One of the more ideal older actors for the role as well.

11: Taron Egerton

Best Known: Eggsy from The Kingsman (which has a sequel coming soon). If he hasn't been cast as Jason Todd (as some rumours are floating about seem to suggest), then he could make an excellent Dick Grayson/Nightwing.

12: Tyler Hoechlin

Best Known: Derek Hale for the first four seasons of Teen Wolf but has also recently played Superman himself on Supergirl, which could also give him an edge for Nightwing too.

If I were a betting man, I would hazard a guess that the moment The Batman goes into production (now that it's found it's director with Matt Reeves), the casting for Nightwing could become fairly known especially if the character has something of a supporting role in the movie so to speak.

About Me

My name is Shawn Lunn and when I don't blog regularly on TV, I write a serious amount of reviews for a variety of different TV programmes as well as comics, books and DVDs pertaining to them (which can be found on my TV Tome and Shawnlunn2002 TVHITS Yahoo Group, also linked here) as well as on this blog. I'm a huge fan of all innovative and smart television.